JUST ANOTHER BUNCH OF FLOWERS

And I will never cease to be amazed by the glories that come from my little patch of paradise.  

Finally one day without storms!  Time to do some pruning in the jungle that has grown unchecked during this most definitely tropical summer.  Clippers in hand, the fearless gardener braves the heat, the humidity and the hordes of mosquitoes while trying to bring some semblance of order into nature gone wild.  A little snip here, a little snip there and voilá!  Before the blood suckers get the upper hand, she's heading to the compost pile.  But wait, let's think this through...  Uhm, this already looks like a hand-tied arrangement!  So into the house they go, where they grace the kitchen table for a long week.  I do love my life! 

OLD FASHIONED

Back in my little island, a sweet little bunch of flowers like this would be called a "pucha".   The word has the special connotation of something hand made, in the old style, carried by a sweaty, gritty little hand as a special gift for a beloved grandmother.   The flowers are exactly the same that those little hands would have cut; crepe myrtles and vitex are staples of old-fashioned gardens in the tropics.  The vase belonged to a grandmother years ago.  And there was a grandmother long ago who taught this gardener that even dead flowers are enchanting.  

NOT YET BLUE

Here is a little sprig of that little thug, porcelain berry.  This one is a variegated variety acquired through a plant exchange and guaranteed not to be a rampant weed.  The jury is still out when it comes to its invasiveness but when those berries turn from green to porcelain blue...  

BLUE CHAIRS

A work in progress to camouflage an ugly spot.  Eventually this wall will be opened and French doors and a deck will look onto the garden.  While patiently waiting, something needed to be done and this little vignette was  the solution that occurred to me.  The blue chairs and blue shepherd's hooks came from the Christmas Tree Shop and the trellises were waiting for me at a supermarket I never visit.  Serendipity.  As it has rained cats and dogs for weeks, the baskets should be fuller in a week or so.  More later.  

LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL

After several days of terrific storms, Mr. Internet decided to take a vacation.  One week without cybernetics can be harrowing, and because of a recent operation I was under absolute orders to be lazy.  No hours of closet organizing, no going through books to donate, no HOUSEWORK of any kind.  Is life good or what?

This 50 cent cutie took the edge off idle hands and became the banner girl for my philosophy of life.  It was a pleasure to make something colorful and creative, and she gracefully presided over a gathering of friends who were invited for cake and Pimm's.  

BIRTHDAY PRESENT

I am absolutely convinced that daylilies bloom for me and only me.  You may try to disabuse me of such an egocentric idea, but you will fail.  Happy birthday to me.  

JUNE 24

Hypericum perforatum ~ Saint John's Wort.  Fittingly named as it never fails to bloom by Saint John's day.  In Puerto Rico there will be huge bonfires by the sea.  That's the tradition.
"Vamos a la playa / Noche de San Juan / que tiembla la tierra / y retumba el mar".  Bonfires are not allowed on beaches in the US anymore, so let's just live with the memories.  Oh, and hypericum is a medicinal herb (wort means medicinal in old English or something).  It's used for depression and sadness.  Who can be depressed or sad after looking at this beauty?

SUCCULENTS

Happily coexisting in an old, cracked bird bath in full sun, with no care whatsoever.  And I KNOW that fairies live there.  

FLOWER SHOW COLORS

 There's so much going on at Flower Show that many times it takes months to discover photographs I took and never had a chance to look at and enjoy.  The bouquets, top, patiently waiting to go to their final destination.  The clematis peeking out of the greenery.  We had more clematis in flower arrangements this year than ever before.

The amazing sweet peas with their fragrance wafting all over the place and those colors like an old-fashioned hand-tinted photograph.  It was a good year for out of the ordinary flowers and for lots and lots of very simple containers.  

DAYDREAM

There she was, lost in thought, looking through that dirty window, and the bouiganvillea reflected on the glass made a perfect crown.  What else could I do but photograph her?  She is one of my cherished memories of a week in Mexico City, a trip I needed to take to bring sanity back to my hectic life.  

Wedding Flowers

I had never been to a Jewish wedding till last Sunday and didn't know what I had missed!  I need more Jewish friends with marriage-age children!    These peonies took my breath away.  Oh, and the food and the music were great too...  

POTS

My grandfather used to call them "parcels of land without deeds".  Clay pots.  They crack, they break, they become mossy, they turn into chards and finally into dust.  They come in so many sizes and shapes and can be used in so many ways.  They are found in every continent, filled with almost anything, from gold coins to water that is more precious than gold.  They carry the living liquid and cradle the dead.  We read history through them and can tell which community within a disappeared peoples made them.  They may be everyday objects, but when they survive us they become our forever tale.

OVERWHELMED!

Wow!  It's not an Easter bonnet.  It's a Henley hat, which is just as good if not better.  She told me she made it herself and it was fun to watch her swan around in this confection.  Springtime will arrive some day.  And then Summer.  And in July, around my birthday, all those lean, strong, rowers' bodies will be on the Thames again, competing while the ladies drink Pimms and walk around in big, flowered hats.  I was lucky enough to be there in several occasions.  Memories to be cherished forever.  All I want right now is a little sun and little warmth.  Both are scarce commodities this chilly Spring.

EASTER SUNDAY

The only tree blooming anywhere in this very early Easter and very cold Spring.  Not even the forsythia is out yet.  Thank you, Lord for giving me renewed hope that Spring will certainly come back.

RICHES

In case you need to be told:  I'm the richest person in the world.  How else could I have such wealth on my kitchen table?  

FEBRUARY

Misty.  Moody.  Dreary.  Dreamy.  Full of pent-up expectations.  

COLORS

Mr. Sparrow's plumage may be rather commonplace, but the feeder compliments him oh so very well!

SPRING!

Of course I know it comes every year, but it never fails to amaze me!

DE LUXE

Can't think of many things as luxurious as these textures and fabulous color combination.

JANUARY 15, 2013

Fighting their way through the snow.  

Brave little darlings here to make us smile.

And to think that in England there are miles and miles of these in the woods!  

MY WORLD IN SEPIA

2010 or was it 2011?  Philadelphia Flower Show.  After receiving an Honorable Mention on the niche aisle (how the mighty have fallen!).  Decided to expand my horizons by using Photoshop to create something different (for me).  I'm glad with the results as one of my photography heroes compared it to the work of a famous photographer from long ago whose name, as does the date of the Flower Show, escapes me.  

MY WORLD IN SEPIA

Waking up to this is a blessing.  Enough said.